The field of the invention is welding systems. More particularly, the invention relates to power input connections of an electric welding system.
Welding is the process of joining two or more metal parts by bringing metals into a molten state in which they flow together to create a welded joint. The process commonly employs a consumable electrode in the form of a welding wire that passes through a wire feeder to a welding gun. The wire feeder is often portable and designed for field use. During operation, the wire feeder receives a welding current from a remote power source and passes the current to other welding equipment through cables to form a complete electrical circuit.
Traditionally, the electrical connectors of the wire feeder utilize ring terminals to connect to fixed studs or the like. These connectors, though designed to have the ring terminals and studs be connected and disconnected, generally, require tools to do so. Furthermore, these connectors are often designed to extend through a housing and/or sealed electronics enclosure. Such housings or sealed enclosures are typically designed to prevent water and dust from entering the electrical components to which the connectors are affixed through a hard-wired connection, particularly during field deployment. Unfortunately, if such a connector is substantially damaged, the housing and/or enclosure must be disassembled and the hard-wired connection disconnected and replaced to affix a new connector.
Recognizing that such connections can be cumbersome to utilize because they often require the use of wrenches, nuts, and the like, in some instances, a short piece of weld cable has been configured with so-called “quick-connect” terminal as male connector ends. Such cable arrangements protrude from either end of the wire feeder in a “pigtails” fashion and are either connected to a terminal or stud that is permanently affixed to the internal electrical components or directly connected to the internal electrical components through a hard-wired connection. Though a hard-wired or cumbersome connection affixes the pigtail to the wire feeder, the quick-connect terminal dangling at the end of the pigtail advantageously provides an efficient connection mechanism on the opposing end of the pigtail.
Although the pigtails provide the advantage of a “quick-connect” terminal for making electrical connections, they may be problematic in other aspects. For instance, while one end of the pigtail is fitted with a quick-connect terminal, the pigtail is, generally, fixedly connected to the wire feeder, either through a hardwiring that also extends through the electronics enclosure or through connections that require tools such as wrenches, nuts, and the like, to control. In such configurations, the above-described drawbacks of cumbersome connections and hard-wired connections extending through the wire feeder enclosure persist. Also, the pigtails add unwanted weight and bulk to the wire feeder, thereby limiting its mobility. Further, the pigtails command extra attention and management, since the quick-connector terminal at the ends of the pigtail may be susceptible to damage during use and transportation. Furthermore, in the event the quick-connector terminal becomes worn or damaged, a user must replace it by either cutting the cable of the pigtail and soldering a new quick-connector terminal at the end of the pigtail, or replacing the entire pigtail. The lengthy repair process becomes costly and often troublesome, especially if a repair must be performed in the field.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a system and method to facilitate connection and repair of welding cables with welding systems that is not hampered by the shortcomings of traditional connection systems.